Wondering how much cash I will need by spring for my driveway and RV slab. How much per square yard of cement should I expect to pay this spring to have it done? I live in south central MN if that makes any difference.
Been pricing cement since late August. FYI – there has been a cement shortage in the midwest. Two big factors are:
1. The flood from late May through July halted barge traffic on the Mississippi river. This limited the amount of raw material available.
2. The construction on the new Vikes stadium and the new St Croix river bridge are using up much available supply.
The low supply with high demand caused prices to shoot up over 30%. I’m still in a holding mode on my project.
For me, I have a guy I’m working with. I’m also not in a huge hurry. So I’m waiting out this temp price increase.
-J.
any word on how long the shortage is to last?
I wouldn’t look for this to let up much. Even with the cold here in Roch they have projects on hold because they can’t supply the cement.
Dang that Obama and federal government for building all these roads and bridges. Now we can’t get cement to mix our concrete. Masons are starving damn it, starving I say. And don’t get me started on global warming causing all these floods and interrupting barge traffic, it’s a travesty I tell you, a travesty. rant over.
Now if you really want to have some fun, get 3 separate contractors to come over all at the same time and give a bid. Eh, I must be getting meaner in my old age.
Don’t forget about all the cement new Frac sand mines and the plants are using.
Hmmmm, I wonder why there’s a shortage up where you guys live when it looks like there wasn’t one here, just wondering is all. They poured one heck of a lot of concrete around here last warm season and a lot of it. Here in town and in Iowa City there was constant construction with residential homes and apartments and commercial jobs. In Iowa city they have 6 or more pedestal cranes up and here in town there’s been a lot of commercial work plus all the residential homes that were built. Every home and all the apt. buildings they put up took a lot of concrete for the basements, drives etc. No concrete block being used here except for above ground commercial use and none are being used for basements, and there’s about 5 too 7 mixing plants that have trucks driving full time with overtime, so where are they getting their concrete. I see them unloading from railcars and putting it into trucks all the time, so again where are they getting theirs. Maybe where your at, railcars aren’t such a good way to transport it. Its got me wondering now.
We get most of our cement via barge and ship here in Milwaukee. We have alot of freeway and bridge projects which will use vastly more than residential. We are rebuilding 2 mega elevated freeway interchanges, repaving with concrete almost all our freeways, major highways, and several freeway overpasses. We actually have the product, it’s just that the dot literally commandeered all production and trucks to have uninterrupted pours. I was laid off a month earlier from my finishing job where I finish for a few small contractors, bottom line is they could not get concrete. Upon spring arriving and the hopeful release of product we will be going gangbusters with our backlog of jobs.
That explains it then, I remember when they put the 380 interstate and bridges through town here going from St. Louis to the twin cities area, it was 7 days a week and as many hours as they could get the guys to work and they used a lot of concrete too. Their building an extension to HY 100 here that’s about 15 miles long and that’s a big pour also plus all the widening of the local roads, work and things are good here. I remember last year if you wanted to get a drive poured you had to get it on paper in the spring or you would have had to wait until this year.
Now if you really want to have some fun, get 3 separate contractors to come over all at the same time and give a bid. Eh, I must be getting meaner in my old age.
I hope this wad a joke because I don’t understand why anyone would do this. If I came to bid a job and saw 2 other guys there, I would leave. Any good contractor is not looking for work, and do not need to waste their time with guys who treat them like this. I understand you want the best price, but you are not going to get it by treating people like dirt.
I would recommend getting one contractor you TRUST and have them give you a quote for the work you NEED and discuss and they can do the best work. Low bid contractors often times give low bid quality.
Expect to pay around $4 per square foot in the spring. This would be for minimum prep work and base installed. Additional prep will be more.
Yes it was a joke, if you look at my subsequent post I AM in the concrete trades specifically residential, sorry if I ruffled feathers with a little dark humor.
Wondering how much cash I will need by spring for my driveway and RV slab. How much per square yard of cement should I expect to pay this spring to have it done? I live in south central MN if that makes any difference.
depending on how much concrete it could run from $3.00 to 3.50 per square foot.
less fill. if it is a small slab per square foot would be higher.
I’d expect to pay anywhere from $3.00-$5.00/square foot. You should also do a lot of checking around on the contractors you’re looking at. Which for me would be to go physically look at their work. There’s a lot of clowns (no offense CRC) out there when it comes to residential flat work (or any of the trades, really). At least with concrete work it’s easy to see their work. I’d also prefer a contractor that removes a good 4+ inches of the old base that your driveway was on and replaces it the right way with a good compact class 5 material. It might cost more, but IMO in the long run it will help you’re new driveway last. They should probably also not skimp on control joints. Panels shouldn’t be much larger than 8’x8′. This will help insure that when it cracks it cracks in the joints. Good luck
For some of you a good thing to remember is in 1 yard of concrete will do 81 sq-ft.X 3 1/2 inchs thick. It is a good start for problem solving.
I would never pour a parking or driveway slab at 3 1/2″ in thickness, 4″ should be the minimal thickness. It is advisable to pour concrete @ 4,000lb strength w/ limestone or higher. your rule at 81 sq ft to 1 yard at 4′ thick still applies.
Min 6″ if parking an RV, that’s on good soil. Reinforce with steel. Grading is key to prevent cracks.
The reason for the shortage was due to the bad concrete from the previous year. (Re-work)
ie Hastings bridge, Blue line, not to mention all the residential driveways.
Yes it was a joke, if you look at my subsequent post I AM in the concrete trades specifically residential, sorry if I ruffled feathers with a little dark humor.
Sorry I jumped down your throat. As a contractor who gets a ton of work from other people’s mistakes, I hate to see people beat down good contractors and act like they are all shady crooks who make millions off the suffering and tears of clients.
I will say it again. Pick out a contreactor you trust based on word of mouth, recomendations. Etc. See their work and discuss what you want done and what you want to do with it when it’s done. The right guy may help lead you down the right path and do it correctly. This may not be the cheapest, but will be the best.
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